


Long Way Back

by demonheathen (ElliGrovster)



Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Drug Addiction, F/M, Homosexuality, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Minor Original Character(s), Multi, Smoking, Suicide Attempt, bisexual Sebastian Castellanos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-02-04 09:45:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12768360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElliGrovster/pseuds/demonheathen
Summary: A month after the second failed STEM attempt, Sebastian still finds himself screaming in his sleep. It disturbs Lily often, wanting to know who her father is screaming after to stay. Juli has worked too long trying to keep secrets and they can't be held in anymore. Joseph finds himself in a harsh world with brand new eyes, not sure who to trust aside from Leslie. Leslie is barely living, and can't escape the terror in his mind no matter how many drugs numb the pain.





	1. One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sebastian has nightmares and Juli visits a "friend".

Sebastian woke up to his daughter pouncing on his chest. Wind knocked out of him, he sat up and Lily giggled as she sat in his lap. 

"Dad, you know that you scream in your sleep?" Lily asked innocently, folding the arms of her doll in Sebastian's likeness. 

Sebastian reached up to rub his face with a groan, "Honey, it's too early. Can you let Dad go back to sleep?" 

Lily didn't listen, only humming as she mussed with the yarn doll's hair. "Who's Joseph, Dad? You talk about him in your sleep a lot." 

"Hush, Lils. Come on, let's go get breakfast." Sebastian shifted out of bed before tossing young Lily over his shoulder. 

"Dad!" The girl squealed with giggles to follow. 

Sebastian looked around the dim hotel room, only a stream of light from the window cutting through the shadows. He walked over to the curtains and pulled them back, squinting at the bright light outside of the room. 

 

Across three counties, Kidman strolled the streets of Krimson City. She had taken the long way around to get to her destination, if only to throw off anyone who was following her. She'd be on-edge for the rest of her life, and a part of her didn't mind it. 

She stopped before a rundown apartment complex with crumbling concrete stairs. Ascending the stairs, Kidman threw open the front door. She was greeted by a man stood behind a face gate and counter. 

"Juli," the man said, rising to his feet to pull two keys from the hook wall behind him. "You're early, aren't you? The big one's been screaming for you since I got here." 

"What?" Juli snatched the keys from the man and ran past his counter, "Doug didn't call me!" She yelled before doubling up the stairs.

The man shrugged and returned to his morning paper 

Kidman continued upstairs to the fourth floor and rushed to the last two rooms in the hallway. The dark green carpet was lined with rubbish bins, keeping the area clean for the plain tenants that lived there. In front of the two doors that Juli was headed towards was a guard, stern and tall, with his arms crossed behind his back. 

"Doug," Kidman huffed, showing the guard her key. He affirmed her and the key with a nod then unlocked the door at the end of the hallway first. 

Juli stepped past him and didn't flinch when the man shut the door behind her. 

"Joseph," Kidman began with an exhale, "I've heard you've been calling for me." 

She stared across the bare studio apartment with a wall made of window. A man sat on the ledge of the biggest window, whittling a cigarette down as much as possible in one puff. 

"About damn time. I was almost out of cigarettes." He tossed the pack of smoked across the room, where it fell and skidded to Kidman's heels. 

"I need more," he ordered, turning to look out of the window to all of Krimson City. Joseph was dressed in a white t-shirt and drawstring pants. His wrists were heavily bandaged from an attempt, weeks ago, on his life. It was after he was told most of his adult life was staged. 

In reality, he had no wife or daughter and he was forced out of his position at the station. Joseph only had one more question after his debriefing. 

_"What about Sebastian?"  Right. Sebastian. Your best friend and work partner._

_Kidman couldn't answer the question how she wanted to. She told Sebastian that Joseph was alive, and that seemed to be enough for him for a while. But Joseph didn't have the hope of a child to keep him steady._

_"He's fine. It's a long story, Joseph."_

_"He's okay, though? Does he know about me?" he'd asked, his eyes lighting up._

_Kidman had to tell him, but it was too much information at one time._

_"N-no, he doesn't know about you."  Kidman lied and it hurt her to. She wastched as Joseph's hope crumbled from him, leaving his shoulders to slump._

Joseph's hair was bed-styled and he kept his glasses off for most of his time. His fingernails were clipped to nubs to keep him from scratching at himself. 

"Got it." Kidman bent down and picked up the cigarette pack. "I'll get Doug on it. So, how are you this morning?" 

She looked into the kitchen, seeing a full tray of breakfast uncovered and riddled with ash. 

"Been better," Joseph said, still staring out to the city, "Could use some damn hot water." He knew better than to make anymore attempts on his life, knowing Juli meant well. 

"And...what about the kid?" Kidman asked, looking to the door adjoining to the apartment next door. 

"He just went to sleep not too long ago. Read him a little Steinbeck and he was gone. Barely touched his breakfast." 

Kidman stepped towards the adjoining door but Joseph shifted from the ledge to stand. 

"You don't get to see him," Joseph said. 

He'd gotten defensive, overprotective of Leslie since the past events they'd been in together. After so much time spent together, Joseph found a close companion in Leslie. 

"Not when he just got to sleep." 

Kidman raised her hands in defeat, "Okay. Maybe later. Now, if you're done marking your territory, would you like to hear some news?"

Joseph shrugged, folding himself to sit on his double bed. Kidman took a deep breath and wrung her hands. 

"I lied before...about Sebastian not knowing about you." She forced out a deep exhale, "He's never stopped worrying about you. And he's got Lily now." 

Joseph scoffed, looking at his bare feet on the floor, "His dead daughter? Now I've heard it all. What, did Mobius get to her, too?" 


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sebastian helps a kid out, Joseph learns the truth and Kidman sees how far Joseph is willing to go.

"Pancakes," Lily demanded with a grin, setting the menu down on the booth table, "with lots of syrup."

Sebastian chuckled, reaching for his mug of coffee for a long sip. "Maybe not too much syrup, you'll get all sticky." He teased his daughter as the waitress stopped by the table to refresh his coffee, then take their order. 

"I'll just have the sunnyside plate, "Sebastian said, looking at the picture of two sunnyside eggs and three strips of bacon to make a happy face. He handed his menu to the waitress then turned to Lily. 

"Let me guess," The waitress turned towards Lily in her booster seat, "Pancakes?"

"Yeah," Lily responded, excited as she looked over to Sebastian. Sebastian feigned surprise to entertain his daughter. 

"How did you know?" 

The waitress grinned and tapped her pen to her pad before whispering to Lily, "I'm magic, hon." 

Sebastian grinned and nodded to the waitress before mouthing 'thank you'. The waitress gave Seb a wink and said she'd return with some fresh biscuits. 

 

Kidman tried to explain, as best as she could, the second stem experiment though it seemed fuzzy now. She tried to keep it straight, how Lily's death was a mobius front and how Sebastian's wife sacrificed herself to let Lily go. Joseph couldn't sit down anymore, the nicotine in his system barely aiding his learning of this new information. 

He lined his thumbnail with his teeth, thinking of sucking the caked nicotine in his cuticles to ease himself down. 

"Where is he? I need to see him. And Lily...is she, is she still the same?" Joseph felt like searching the apartment for his shoes, his jacket but he stopped to know more about Sebastian's little girl. 

"She's perfect. Probably the sweetest little girl you'd ever have chance to meet," Kidman said, only watching as Joseph cracked a smile then continued searching for his things. 

"I need to see him, Kidman. You can't just tell me this and not let me see him," Joseph said, going over to a pare pole that hung three variations of the outfit he was wearing.

Kidman couldn't deny Joseph anymore, and she couldn't let him know that Sebastian was aware of his existence then not disclose his location. "That's the thing, Joseph. I don't know where he is." 

Joseph froze as he reached for his dark navy rain jacket, one that matched his navy clinical outfit. "What?" He leaned in the direction of Kidman to see if he had heard her correctly. "Where the fuck is Sebastian, Kidman?" 

Juli shook her head, then looked down at her hands folded in her lap, "I don't know." She wasn't expecting Joseph to rush across the floor and tackle her to his bed. Joseph barely realized his actions until he felt the fragility of Kidman's throat between his hands and saw her face pucker up red. 

"J-Joseph..." Kidman tried, her hands reaching up to claw at the man's hands on her throat. Joseph's weight was distributed over Kidman's legs so she couldn't kick them up. 

"You better find him, Kid. I mean it. You've strung me along for too much of this bullshit and I need more than just the answers you're giving me." Joseph's voice was rattled and gravelly, almost as if he were possessed again in the mind of Ruvik. But he couldn't get himself to ease off of harming Juli. 

"I'll try..." Kidman forced out in a choked whisper, her windpipe crushing causing her to wheeze shallowly. 

"You'll do more than try." Joseph picked up Kidman by her throat, then slammed her head back down on the bed before leaning in further to her face, "You will give this to me, Kid. If it's the last thing you do." 

Kidman shut her eyes, focusing on her labored breathing before slowly nodding at Joseph's demand, "Okay." 

At that, Joseph released his hold, watching as Kidman turned to her side to catch her breath. She held her hand on her throat, panting for more air to come in before spewing out coughs. He slowly backed off of her, then turned to cross the room, only to see Leslie standing in the adjoining doorway. 

"Sebastian...alive?" He asked, his pinkish eyes lighting up from the news. Joseph held a hand out and slowly started towards Leslie. 

"Hey, Bunny, easy." Joseph wasn't sure if Leslie saw him attack Juli, but Kidman was too worried about herself to tell Leslie to back away. "Yes, Sebastian's alive." 

Leslie's pale lips slowly turned up in an egregious smile, "When do we...get to see...him?" He pieced together his words like a frightened child, though his smile said the opposite. Joseph approached Leslie, curling his arms around him in a comforting hug. 

"Yeah, Kidman. When do we get to see him?" He asked, reaching to pet down Leslie's white hair and staring at Juli still struggling to breathe on the bed. 

"Soon," she said, between more heavy breaths, "I just need to make a few calls." 

 

Sebastian watched as Lily stabbed her fork into her stack of pancakes, pulling up one and trying to stuff it into her mouth. "Lilian." 

Lily giggled, taking a quick bite of the edge of her pancake before setting it back down on the stack. "What?"

Seb narrowed his eyes at his daughter, then scoffed in amusement. "You know that's not how we eat." 

"I know, but I'm so hungry, I could just eat it all at once." She looked to her stack of fluffy, golden pancakes and reached for her knife. 

Sebastian picked up his cup of coffee for another sip as the diner bell rang. The front door shut with a harsh blow of morning breeze and a pair of high heels clicked across the linoleum. He set his mug down and looked in the direction of the person who came in, finding himself staring at the skinny boy clutching the diner counter. His lip was cut and bloodied, his eye was swollen shut. The boy's hair was disheveled and damp while he struggled to keep his weight up on his heels. 

Lily was about to turn around, just to see who her dad was looking at, but Sebastian snapped his fingers and pointed to her pancakes. "You stay here. Don't look." 

Sebastian slid from his seat at the booth and slowly crossed the floor, giving Lily's shoulder a reassuring pat as he did so. He leaned into the boy's distant gaze, "Hi." 

The boy's look fastened to attention on Sebastian, only for him to immediately swipe the drooling blood from his lip and hide his face with his hair. 

"It's okay, it's okay." Sebastian said, his voice a soothing and soft octave. He reached a hand out to touch the boy's shoulder but, like a beaten animal, he flinched. From where he stood next to the boy, Sebastian could see the extent of the kid's attire. A pair of silver heels, short jean shorts and a fishnet tank top. 

"What's your name?" He asked, still leaning to get the boy to look at him. Sebastian wanted to help, he'd been trained in working with victims of any nature, but only if they wanted to help themselves. 

The boy looked up from under his hair, then back away, "Eliah." 

"Elijah," Sebastian prompted, knowing it was wrong but he wanted the kid to speak up. 

"No, Eliah. E-lie-ah," the boy said, turning to look at Sebastian again. 

Sebastian nodded, "Eliah." He shrugged off his dark green jacket and gently draped it onto Eliah's shoulders. "You want to come sit with me and my daughter? Have some coffee?" 

Eliah looked over Sebastian's shoulder, to the little girl who was stealing peeks at him. Lily didn't like the way he looked, reminding her of Stefano. 

"S-sure." Eliah nodded, and Sebastian picked up a few napkins from a dispenser to dab the blood dripping from Eliah's lip. 

The boy allowed him to do so, almost flinching at how soft and calm Sebastian was. 

"My name's Sebastian, by the way." 


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Sebastian offers the boy a place to stay and Juli makes some calls.

Sebastian was quiet with his breakfast as the boy, Eliah, sat across from him and Lily. He allowed the quiet kid to order himself something to eat. 

Lily kept staring at the boy, how his lip dripped onto the linoleum table. 

"How old are you, Eliah?" Sebastian asked, reaching for the napkin dispenser and handing a chunk of them to the boy. 

"Twenty," he said, taking the man's offer and dabbing his bottom lip. 

"You're just a kid." Sebastian muttered, pushing his plate away to fold his arms on the table. 

Lily stopped staring when Sebastian looked at her, then watched as her dad smiled at the stranger. 

"You in trouble?" Sebastian asked, looking over his shoulders and back at the boy. "Just nod, yes or no." He lowered his head and voice to maintain a less conspicuous demeanor. 

Eliah picked up a piece of toast from his plate then glanced at Sebastian across the table. He gave the man a quick nod, one that made Sebastian straighten up. 

"You can stay with us if you'd like," he added, returning his voice to its casual volume. If anything, he'd get a runner bed for the boy to sleep on. It wasn't like they had anything valuable to steal, and Sebastian always took it upon himself to stay armed. 

 

Joseph sat on the floor, with Leslie curled in his lap, while he watched Kidman dial numbers on her phone. His fingers tangled in Leslie's soft, white hair, something that always calmed him down. 

"We'll see Sebastian?" Leslie asked, nuzzling his nose to Joseph's neck. 

He stiffened, trying his hardest to not think about Leslie's warm breath on his skin. "Of course. I'm sure he'll be so happy to see you, bunny." 

Kidman got off of the phone with a loud exhale, staring at the screen in her hands. "I've got an address." 

"That's great," Joseph said. The more he stared at Juli across the room, his initial excitement wore off, concern replacing. "What's wrong?" 

"It's three counties away. I'm not saying that we can't make it, but..." Kidman reached for the back of her neck, feeling at the inch long scar from her removed microchip. If anything, she was being too cautious. She'd seen what happened to every other Mobius agent with the chip and she was aware that it was more than just the Krimson City division that implemented them. 

"Nothing," she finished saying, pushing herself to her feet. "Come on, we've got fifteen minutes before the car arrives. You got the kid?" 

Joseph craned his neck to look down at Leslie, realizing that he had fallen back asleep. "Yeah, I got him." He scooped up the frail boy in his arms then pulled himself up to his knees before standing. Joseph curled Leslie's small legs around his waist, steadied his back then reached for two of his rain jackets. 

"What about your shoes?" Kidman asked, though she felt like it would be a dumb question. 

Joseph looked down at his bare feet, then back at Juli with narrowed eyes. "I'm sure I'll be fine." 

 

Sebastian waited until Eliah was finished with his breakfast before paying. The boy didn't take a lot of convincing to stay with nice strangers and Sebastian wasn't sure how to take that. 

"We have some clothes you can change into, if you'd like," Sebastian said, letting Lily slip out of the booth first before Eliah. He shrugged off his jacket and handed it to the boy, seeing him shiver slightly. 

Eliah hesitated, hand hovering at the green jacket from Sebastian's shoulders. Sebastian took it upon himself to set the jacket on Eliah's thin shoulders and led him out of the diner with Lily in front. 

"Dad, he's going to take a bath, right?" Lily asked, turning around and walking backwards to stare at the beaten boy. 

"Lily, sweetheart, that's up to him." Sebastian wasn't sure how to acknowledge his daughter's comment as they walked to the truck. From what he could tell, the boy didn't need it. Other than the blatant abuse from a possibly rough stranger, he was well taken care of. 

"I...wouldn't mind a bath," Eliah spoke up, grabbing the front of the jacket and pulling it closed. His shivering slowly became more apparent and Sebastian took notice. 

He'd seen it a few times before, working at the police station. "What're you on?" He asked, leaning in so only Eliah could hear him. "When was your last score?" 

The boy kept shivering as Sebastian smiled at his daughter, giving off the appearance of nothing more serious than a question of where Eliah was from. 

"Kett," Eliah said, "And last night, before this." 

Sebastian pressed his lips together, not sure how to respond. Along with the beating itself, Eliah was limping and coming down from a heavy drug. He didn't want to think about the kid went through. 

"Let's just get you to the room, huh?" Sebastian said, opening the passenger door and letting Lily climb in first before helping Eliah in after her. 


End file.
